Alessandro Remo Zanetti and his colleagues from Institute of Virology, Italy has found that Initial vaccination with Hepatitis B produces the required concentrations of circulating antibodies in the blood of the patients for long periods.
Alessandro Remo Zanetti and his colleagues from Institute of Virology, Italy has found that Initial vaccination with Hepatitis B produces the required concentrations of circulating antibodies in the blood of the patients for long periods. The researchers have found that the circulating antibodies against Hepatitis B vaccination are present in the blood for at least 10 years after vaccination. Researchers have concluded that there is no need of booster doses of Hepatitis B in these patients as enough amount of antibodies are present which can give protection in case of Hepatitis B infection. The results of the work have been published in the journal The Lancet.
Viral hepatitis B is a leading cause of acute and chronic liver disease worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, globally, about 2 billion people have been infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). More than 350 million people are chronically infected. WHO recommends that all countries should have universal infant or adolescent hepatitis B vaccination integrated into their national immunization programs.The researchers conducted their trial in 1212 children’s and 446 Italian Air Force Recruits by vaccinating with Hepatitis B vaccination. They found that 64% of children and 89% of the recruits retained protective concentrations of antibodies. The study shows that infant and adolescent immune systems can recall responding to hepatitis B more than 10 years after immunization.
Experts View:
Professor Zanetti concludes: “In light of our findings, the use of routine booster doses of hepatitis B vaccine does not seem necessary to maintain long-term protection in immuno-competent individuals vaccinated as infants and teenagers."
Ding-Shinn Chen, National Taiwan University, Taiwan said, “Unless accumulating data show a significant increase of HBV infection in adolescents or adults who were vaccinated as children, a policy of booster vaccination in a population should not be recommended. We believe that this applies both to hyper-endemic and low endemic areas of the world.”
Source: News wise, The Lancet.
